An Elven Friend
by Thelighteningbolt
Summary: Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry and Frodo's elven friend Azaelia are off to destroy the ring of power, see the adventure, the darkness, the fantasy and the beauty in this story. THIS IS BASED ON THE LORD OF THE RINGS MOVIES! Enjoy :)
1. The Journey

In a forest of the Shire, lay a hobbit. Much like you and me, he walks on two feet, has two eyes, a mouth, a nose and two ears. Although, his height is only just above the waist of an average man, and wears no shoes, as his feet are as tough as rock and are protected by many black hairs.

Hobbits are a jolly type of folk. They like dancing, festivals, drinking and, peace and quiet on a Sunday afternoon.

They live in a 'hobbit hole'. Not a dirty, wet hole full of worms but a rather cosy house type hole, with ornaments and wooden furniture around the house.

Anyway, Frodo the hobbit, was lying beneath an apple tree, minding his own business (drawing in fact), when he heard a faint clop of horse's hooves on the stony path a few metres off. He leapt to his feet and whispered under his breath,

"Gandalf,"

He sprinted across the mossy ground with a grin on his face; he had been waiting for Gandalf to arrive for some time.

But as he was sprinting, an arrow whizzed past his ear which made him jump and he skidded to a halt. The arrow had hit a tree trunk a couple of metres away from him and as he plucked it off with a fist, he automatically knew it was elvish from the lightness of the arrow and judging by the silver, it came from Rivendell.

"I know you're there Azaelia!" Frodo called out.

Up in the trees, an elf hung her legs from a branch and watched in amusement as Frodo searched around in puzzlement. This is how Azaelia greeted him every time she saw him. They were the best of friends since they basically grew up together when they were children. Her bow rested in her fingers and eventually she decided that maybe she shouldn't stay up there for long and leave her best friend sitting in a puddle of stress; so she jumped from the branch and landed right behind him, which made him jump once again.

"Frodo Baggins!" she said, "so good to see you! Lovely weather today isn't it?"

"Azaelia! What are you doing here?!" Frodo said in awe.

"To come to your Uncle Bilbo's party of course! You did invite me didn't you?"

"Yes of course," Frodo said muttering, "sorry, I'm a little tired."

Suddenly, their faces broke out into a smile and they both started laughing.

"Oh Azaelia, it is good to see you!" he said, his eyes widening with happiness. They both leapt into each other's arms and hugged tightly.

"I missed you very much little one! How's Bilbo?"

"Absolutely fine," Frodo said breaking away, "although, he is a little stressed since all these people are knocking at his door trying to hassle him about his birthday and all that, but apart from that he's fine!"

"Oh good," Azaelia smiled, "where were you running off too?"

"Oh to Gandalf," he said slowly and his face fell, "oh my goodness Gandalf!"

He turned around and was about to start running again when Azaelia just managed to catch him by the shoulders at the last second.

Frodo looked up at her with his beautiful blue eyes.

"Race you there!" Azaelia grinned and she started running.

Frodo started to run after her. Azaelia was much faster than him as she was taller and fitter. He could hear her laugh echo through the trees in a rather creepy way and snaps of twigs could be heard far ahead. Frodo has an excellent sense of hearing, and Azaelia had the gift of good sight and balance; which is what all elves have.

Azaelia came from Rivendell; Frodo's never been there but he's heard that it's full of rivers, trees in full blossom and they live in the most beautiful houses on top of rocks and next to beautiful waterfalls. But Bilbo had told him that you had to cross treacherous mountain paths where the rock giants live.

The shire was an entirely different type of setting. It was in the country side, full of forests, some rivers, fields where they grow crop, and houses inside big rolling hills.

Unlike other elves, Azaelia didn't have the natural brown/black hair like most of the residents of Rivendell; she had flaming, thick red hair and the brightest green eyes you will ever see. And also unlike most elves, she had developed a power. She could use nature and almost control the elements into doing pretty much what she wanted it to do.

Eventually, Frodo arrived on top of a hill and saw Gandalf on his horse and cart, mumbling to himself getting closer to him.

"You're late," Frodo frowned at Gandalf.

"A wizard is never late, he always arrives exactly when he means to!" Gandalf said looking up at him from the path below.

Suddenly Frodo started laughing and Gandalf joined in to. Frodo jumped from the hill and into Gandalf's arms.

"Oh it's so good to see you Gandalf!" he laughed.

"Oh and it's so good to see you too Frodo Baggins!"

Gandalf clicked his reigns and they were off on the bumpy path.

"Gandalf," Frodo said, "just wondering, but have you seen Azaelia yet? I was having a race up to the hill and she just disappeared!"

"I'm afraid not dear Frodo," Gandalf said, "maybe she's already there."

They carried on a little further when they started to pass some houses and children rushed out squealing,

"Look it's Gandalf!" and "Gandalf! Look over here!"

But Gandalf just passed them and the squeals were replaced by disappointed groans. Frodo smiled and under his breath he muttered,

"Three, two, one..."

And exactly after one, fireworks exploded behind him making the children cheer as they chased after butterflies made out of fire.

Gandalf smiled and pulled out a pipe from behind him and lit it by creating a flame on his finger, he started smoking on it contently.

"Oh, it is good to be back Frodo,"

"It's good to have you back Gandalf," Frodo grinned.

Eventually (after a long windy path through the hills), they had arrived at Bilbo's house and Frodo hopped off while the cart was still slowing down.

"You run off Frodo, while I say hello to Bilbo, there's a good chap." Gandalf said to him.

Frodo laughed and said,

"Oh Gandalf, stop bossing me around like that, I'm 33 now! A respectable adult! I am no longer a child!"

"Yes of course, sorry dear Frodo, but please hurry along! Go help down at the party! I'm sure they need another arm or leg,"

"Yes of course. See you later Gandalf!"

"See you later Frodo!"

But as Gandalf was just about to get off the cart, a cool breeze whistled through his ear and a voice whispered,

"Frodo is in grave danger. Tonight, you will all discover something new, something dark and dangerous and Frodo will be the only one to help us destroy it."

"Destroy what Azaelia?" Gandalf whispered back, but the wind died down and there was silence.

Frodo walked down to where the party was, whistling contently as he strolled past all the hobbit holes. He had completely forgotten Azaelia, who was sitting on top of one of the homes, an arrow poised, aiming for the rock next to him. She released the arrow, which flew at immense speed and hit the rock with a satisfying thump. Frodo saw the arrow which was poking out from the rock and plucked it off. He turned round and looked in the direction Azaelia was.

"Hi Azaelia, I can see you there's no point in hiding anymore I know it was you."

But she didn't reveal herself. Instead, a small wind picked up, and blossoms from around trees floated upwards, and created Azaelia, but entirely made out of small, delicate pink and white blossom. The blossom Azaelia suddenly spoke, which made Frodo's mouth hang wide up, she said,

"Do you like my new skill? Quite good, isn't it?"

"Yes," Frodo whispered, "extremely beautiful,"

He held out his hand and reached out to touch blossom Azaelia, but it quickly parted and floated away. He watched the blossoms peacefully slide away behind the hills.

"It's beautiful what elves can do, isn't it?" a voice said from behind him. Frodo swerved round and grinned when he saw Sam, his trusty gardener and best friend.

"Yes it is very beautiful," Frodo said, "it was Azaelia,"

"Oh Azaelia! Is she here? When can I see her?"

"Right now," Azaelia said from on top of a hobbit hole, she hopped down and gave Sam a big hug.

"Are you heading down for the party? Let's go!" Azaelia said, and she started sprinting down the hill.

"She's such a child," Sam said, smiling,

"No," Frodo said, "she's just got a wild heart."

"Frodo!" a voice echoed in his head, "Frodo!"

Frodo opened one eye and realised, it was just another memory.


	2. The Prancing Pony

Frodo sat up and rubbed the back of his aching neck. Sleeping on a rock isn't as comfortable as he would have thought. They weren't at the Shire anymore, but were going to destroy the ring of power all the way in Mordor, but luckily he wasn't alone. He had Sam, Azaelia, Pippin and Merry helping him. He took his time to look around. They weren't on the boat anymore, but in some shrubs at the side of a path and if he looked far enough, he could see the lake that they crossed.

"Breakfast?" said Pippin, looking exhausted, "Sam found some apples growing over there," he pointed vaguely behind him,

"Well, too be exact," Azaelia said, "around 100 metres away,"

"You went on your own Sam? Despite what happened last night?!" Frodo said, shocked.

"No course not," Merry said from behind him, "he went with me and Pippin, while you and Azaelia stayed behind, you were fast asleep by the way."

"Yeah," Sam chuckled, "I'm not that dim witted, I wouldn't want to bump into those Black Riders again!"

Frodo got a shiver down his spine. Black Riders were very tall with a black cloak draped over them and they were only after one thing, and that was the ring of power, they will kill anything in its path to get it. Unfortunately, Frodo, Sam, Azaelia, Pippin and Merry had faced them last night, and just escaped by jumping on the boat in the nick of time.

"We have to go," Azaelia said, "if we want to meet Gandalf at the Prancing Pony, we need to hurry or we'll never get there in time!"

"Oh, can we at least finish our breakfast?" Pippin whined,

"Yeah," Merry nodded, "we don't want to go on an empty stomach!"

"I think we should wait a bit because Frodo hasn't woken up properly," Sam said, looking at Frodo with concern, who was fiddling with the ring in his pocket in unease.

"Well I think we should ask Frodo," Azaelia said, "Frodo, what do you think? Should we leave now?"

All eyes stared at Frodo, who coughed awkwardly and said,

"I think we should leave right away," Frodo said, "the later we go, the later we'll get there and I'd rather be early than late,"

Pippin and Merry groaned.

"Why don't you just carry your food? I don't even know why you're still with us!" Azaelia exclaimed,

"We didn't ask to come," Merry said grumpily,

"Exactly, we were just minding our own business and then you come along and suddenly, we're tagging along on your little adventure!"

"Well stop stealing crops from the fields you-"

"That's enough!" Frodo said, looking distressed, "let's just pack up and leave! I know we're all tired and hungry but it doesn't mean we can quarrel and argue!"

"Sorry Frodo," everyone mumbled and soon enough, everyone started shoving blankets and equipment into rucksacks.

Around ten minutes later, they were off and about two hours later, Pippin and Merry started to get bored and whine.

"Are we there yet?" Pippin moaned,

"No. We'll arrive around midday," Azaelia said wearily, for the hundredth time that day, "do you want me to entertain you or something?"

"Oh yes that would be great!" Merry said.

And for the rest of the journey Azaelia made blossom characters, trees sway into whatever direction she wanted it to, birds and wildlife fly around their heads and much more marvellous things that made everyone laugh and forget their troubles.

But suddenly it started to pour down with treacherous rain, and everyone's mood dropped like a stone in water.

"It's so cold!" Sam shivered,

Frodo hadn't complained for the whole journey, in fact, he hadn't said anything since that morning. Azaelia started to notice that Frodo was looking a little pale, and offered to carry him and he gladly after much persuasion, let her.

Eventually (after getting lost a few times in the rain), they arrived at the Prancing Pony, completely soaked. Frodo knocked on some big doors which towered over the little hobbits. Almost instantly, a grouchy man stuck his head through a hatch through the door, and said to Azaelia,

"What do you want? I'm sick and tired of all this knocking! All I want is a pint of mead and a lie down, but no, I'm standing out here on night shift! I never even wanted-"

"We would like to enter and stay to recover ourselves from our long journey at the Prancing Pony," Frodo cut in.

The man looked down and realising they were hobbits, he popped his head out of the hatch and opened a much smaller one instead, and stuck his head through that one so he was level with Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry.

"Hobbits, what a lovely surprise," the man said, sounding far from happy, "but you," he said, looking up at Azaelia, "are a young lady perhaps."

Azaelia's calm face turned to fury,

"I am not a young lady; I am Azaelia, daughter of Finwë, my uncle is Elrond, Elvin king of Rivendell," Azaelia said defiantly.

"Oh my lady I'm terribly sorry! I'll let you in right away! But first, I need you to prove it," the man grinned, his yellow teeth showing, "I've heard rumours that real Azaelia can control the elements, so show me."

"Fine," Azaelia growled and she took off her cloak and said, "I can only do this for a certain amount of time, but here I go!"

Azaelia closed her eyes and started murmuring elvish under her breath.

"What is she doing?" Sam whispered into Frodo's ear,

"No idea," Frodo smiled weakly,

When suddenly, all the puddles on the floor started to float, and every rain drop that fell, never got to touch the ground and was just floating there, in a wonky thin line, but the rain kept on coming and the line of raindrops got thicker and thicker until finally, after the water was almost a metre tall, Azaelia gasped and her eyes sprung open and every single bit of water that was floating in the air, dropped, and a river of rain came down at a fast rate then landed with a crash onto the floor which soaked everyone, including the man at the gate.

There was a moment of silence, and Azaelia's panting could be heard even over the thunder.

"So, may we come in to recover ourselves at the Prancing Pony?" Azaelia said, sounding out of breath.

"Yes," the man whispered, "my lady," he quickly added and he closed the hatch and opened the doors.

The hobbits and Azaelia ran inside and murmered a quick 'thank you' to him as he bowed down so low, his head was below the hobbit's waists.

They were quickly faced with a bustle of people running to and from shops and houses, bars and inns.

"Stay close to me," Azaelia said, "this could get rough,"

Azaelia grabbed onto Frodo's hand, who reached out to grab Sam's, who grabbed Merry's hand who finally took Pippin's.

"Here we go!" Azaelia said and she started entering into the busy crowd, all rushing to get inside away from the rain.

Then she heard a scream, the scream of Merry.

"I've lost him! I've lost Pippin! He just let go!" Merry cried.

Azaelia dragged the three hobbits to the side and said,

"Stay here and do not move unless you want to be trampled till there is no bone in your body that hasn't been crushed! Understood?"

"Yes my lady!" Merry said, saluting her while Sam and Frodo gave a short nod.

Azaelia stood up on a barrel which was standing a couple of feet away and used her super sense of vision to try and seek him out.

And there he was, pressed up against a wall trembling while men went by splashing him as they went through puddles.

Azaelia jumped off and ran as fast as she could, weaving through groups of grouchy, soaked people and she front flipped over a cart and landed on her feet with perfect balance. She spotted Pippin and grabbed his hand, he yelped in surprise.

"You fool of a Took, Pippin!" Azaelia cried, "Do you know who much you frightened me?"

Pippin's bottom lip wobbled.

"Climb onto my back, we'll get there faster," Azaelia said gently and she hugged him.

"Yes Azaelia," he mumbled and silently climbed onto Azaelia's back and wrapped his arms around her neck.

When they managed to get back to the rest of the hobbits, Merry gave Pippin a bone-crushing hug and Azaelia decided that Sam should be at the back, then Merry then Frodo then Pippin at the front.

"Look over there!" Sam shouted, "The Prancing Pony, look!"

They all looked up and saw the rusted sign, hanging from the inn with a picture of a grey pony and underneath were the words: The Prancing Pony.

"Let's go," Frodo said impatiently, "I'm sure Gandalf will be there by now!"

And as they entered the inn, the atmosphere changed completely; from the cold, wet outside, to a loud, warm room with jolly men, all far away from the land of sober, laughing so loud that it echoed through the room.

Frodo spotted the registration desk and started to make his way towards it, the three other hobbits followed but Azaelia said,

"Go ahead; I've got business to attend to,"

Frodo looked back at her anxiously.

"I promise I'll be back in a minute! Just meet me over there by the beer barrels. Okay?"

"Okay, please don't be too long," Frodo said with a worried smile.

"Why are you so worried?" Pippin asked, "It's not like we're going to be murdered in the middle of the pub floor are we?"

Frodo and Sam flinched.

"Shut up Pippin, you're not making the situation better!" Merry hissed at him.

"Guys stop arguing!" Azaelia snapped, "Frodo, even if you suddenly get chased by a mad-man you can run fast, remember when you stole mushrooms from Farmer Maggots fields when you were just a boy? I do. Do you also remember when he caught you and scared you with his three dogs? You ran quite fast then didn't you?"

Frodo's face fell at the terrifying memory:

_"Come here you stupid boy!" Farmer Maggot shouted, "I'll teach you a lesson!"_

_"Please sir! I didn't mean any harm! I was just hungry!" Frodo yelped._

_"Hungry eh? Well why don't you run off all that fat? I'll set my dogs on you, you silly child! Run like you've never ran before!" _

_And just like that Frodo ran and he could hear the three dogs barking excitedly behind him. Frodo's heart thumped in his chest. He ran so far, the barking became faint and soon silent. He stopped to catch his breath and just as he was about to run a bit more, an arrow missed his ear by a millimetre and hit a tree stump right next to him. Azaelia hopped down from a tree and said,_

_"Amazing Frodo! You ran really fast! I can't believe you actually stole the mushrooms! From Farmer Maggot! You're really brave, I love you!" _

_She ran and hugged Frodo, who smiled but couldn't quite get over the shock that he just got caught. He never got caught._

"Hey it's okay," Azaelia said, looking into Frodo's eyes, "yeah I can read your mind," she smiled.

"How do you do that?" Merry said, "Can you read my mind?"

"Maybe," Azaelia said hastily, "I need to go,"

And before the hobbits could say anything else, Azaelia went into the crowd.

Frodo made his way over to the desk, Sam, Pippin and Merry following closely behind him.

Frodo cleared his throat, and the man said without looking,

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"We would like to know if a wizard signed in here. His name is Gandalf."

The man looked up and realised they were hobbits and had to lean over the desk to get a look at them.

"Hobbits I see!" he said surprised, "What's your name chap?"

"Mr. Underhill sir," Frodo said, remembering the travelling name Gandalf told his to use, "and we want to know if a wizard named Gandalf has signed in, or perhaps maybe you have seen him?"

"Gandalf, Gandalf now where have I heard that name?" he murmured to himself, "oh yes! Gandalf the Grey! I'm afraid I haven't seen him for months. Do you want to stay the night? We have perfect hobbit sized beds upstairs if you want!"

"No, we're not staying," Sam said, and he steered Frodo away.

"So, he's not here?" Pippin murmured.

"No, weren't you listening?!" Merry hissed at him.

"Yes I was actually! I'm just trying to make sense of it all!" Pippin scowled.

"Wait until they find the bar, they will forget all there quarrels then!" sniggered Sam in Frodo's ear.

"Let's go and get a drink!" Merry pointed at the bar.

And in a flash, Pippin and Merry were already ordering drinks.

"Told you!," Sam said, "Let's go find Azaelia and then a table to sit," and they headed their way towards the beer barrels at the other side of the pub, weaving in and out of jolly men and when they finally got there, Azaelia was not in sight.


	3. Strider

After waiting for almost ten minutes at the beer barrels, Sam decided they should find a seat and so they made their way to the table number 4.

"Don't worry, she'll be back any minute," Sam said, looking at Frodo's anxious face.

"But what if she doesn't come back? What if she's in trouble?" Frodo said in a panicky voice.

"Come on Frodo, she's an elf! You've seen her fight! No-one crosses her when she's in a bad mood!" Sam said, trying to sound cheerful but Frodo didn't look convinced.

"Look at Pippin!" Sam said, changing the subject. Frodo looked over to Pippin and he was on the table dancing with Merry, clearly drunk, singing famous hobbit songs and jiving to popular hobbit dances.

But then, Frodo got the instinct that he was being watched and he tensed up.

"Frodo, don't look around too quickly," Sam whispered in his ear, "there's a man watching you over in the corner, he might mean trouble. Do you have the ring safe?"

"Yes," Frodo whispered back and glanced behind him as normal as possible, smiling happily as if someone directly behind him had said something funny. The man was wearing a black cloak, which covered his eyes and he had a pipe in his mouth with puffs of smoke rising up slowly and sometimes he would peep under the hood and take a look at Frodo with brown eyes.

"Baggins? I know a Baggins! There's one there," Pippin shouted, pointing at Frodo, splashing his drink around, "his name's Frodo Baggins and-"

"Pippin stop!" Frodo said, and he leaped up but tripped over a table leg and fell on his back and the ring flew out from his pocket, he held out his hand to grab it, but it managed to slip on his finger by accident and he disappeared.

Frodo could hear the men's voices murmuring in shock and surprise, and as he opened one eye the sight he saw was very strange. He could stand up and walk around, but the men could not see him.

_'I'm invisible!' _thought Frodo. He walked around, feeling dizzy and disorientated. He saw Sam, standing up in shock, staring at the place Frodo fell and disappeared. Pippin was in a right state, screaming,

"I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please come back I didn't mean to do this!"

Merry just stood there with his mouth wide open, and dropped a whole pint of mead, which landed with a crash and spilt everywhere.

Frodo wanted to be alone. He decided to make his way somewhere quiet when it dawned on him, was this the way Bilbo disappeared at his party?

He ran upstairs on the way to the bedrooms, bumping into things as he went, the ground rushed beneath him and he tripped on the last step, landing awkwardly on his shoulder. Frodo couldn't stand this anymore; he pulled the ring as hard as he could and it released its grasp, rolled a couple of feet and lay still.

Frodo grabbed the ring, shoved it in his pocket, lay back and closed his eyes to catch his breath, when two strong, rough hands grabbed onto his arms and dragged him upwards. It was the man who was watching him in the corner.

"Let me go!" Frodo struggled, but the man's firm grasp just held tighter, and he guided him into an empty room, pushed him in and shut the door.

"Do you realise how much trouble you are in now?!" he said, his voice raising as he turned to look at him.

The man was a plain looking person. He was good looking, with black hair which fell limply to his shoulders; he had a muscular body and looked young. He wore a black cloak, a black shirt, plain trousers and had brown eyes which looked like they had seen too much.

"What do you mean?" Frodo stuttered.

"I can't believe you drew so much attention to yourself! The Black Riders will probably be on their way by now thanks to you!"

"I-I don't understand," Frodo said, "We lost them at the ferry near my home at the Shire, and who are you may I ask?"

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn, but most people call me Strider." He said drawing the curtains shut.

But as soon as Frodo was about to open his mouth, the door burst open and Sam, Merry and Pippin ran in, armed with a candle stand, cutlery and a pitchfork. Sam shouted,

"Release him, enemy! Or I will stab you with this," Sam glanced at what he was holding, "candle holder!"

"He is not our enemy Sam," Azaelia said, walking calmly into the room, "he is indeed, my cousins adopted brother and partner, Aragon."

"Where did you come from?" Pippin squealed.

"Indeed! And why did you suddenly disappear?" Sam said, glaring at her.

"I went to talk to Aragon here," she said, "when then I had a vision, Black Riders, striding to this exact destination on their black horses. I asked Strider to keep an eye on you and Frodo, make sure you don't do anything dim witted, while I went outside to keep watch."

"Who's Strider?" Merry asked.

"His is," Azaelia and Frodo said at the same time, pointing at Strider.

"No, he's Aragon!" Pippin said.

"It's my nickname," Strider said impatiently.

"Oh," Pippin said, soaking it in.

There was a moments silence until Azaelia and Strider started talking in elvish to each other.

_"Did you book a room for the hobbits the sleep in?" _Strider murmured.

_"Yes," Azaelia replied, "it is in fact, the room next door."_

"What are you talking about?" Pippin said in a confused shaky voice, Merry shushed him.

_"We're going to have to book another room; this one is no longer safe. Ask if we can switch or move rooms to the other side. The Black Riders are on their way I expect; the hobbits are no longer safe."_

Azaelia nodded and said,

"Stay right here and do as Aragorn says, you promise me?

The hobbits nodded their heads.

Azaelia looked at Aragorn, gave a short nod and walked out the room hastily.

"A very fierce, independent lady," Aragorn said simply, "I must admit, she has a very boisterous character, especially for a girl."

"Go say that to her face," Frodo growled, "You do not speak ill of my friend behind her back, if you say that to her face, I will enjoy seeing you get seriously injured! For she is not a lady she-"

Frodo struggled to find the right word.

"I didn't mean it for offense master Baggins," he said curtly, "Usually when I meet female elves they are all too delicate and flouncy, while the men do all the fights and adventures. I have never met an elf as extraordinary as Azaelia I must say. But it's not just her personality that's all muddled, it's her appearance to! I have never seen hair as red and fiery as hers I must assure you. And her eyes, they are extremely entrancing, never in my life have I seen so much bright green in one place. So master Frodo, I do not mean offense, I meant it as a compliment!"

"Please excuse me Strider," Merry said, looking amused, "but it sounds as if you might love her!"

"No, don't be silly! Although as wonderful Azaelia is I must tell you my heart is already fallen for someone else! It seems like you haven't been listening when Azaelia said, 'he is indeed my cousins adopted brother and _partner,_'!"

"Oh, so you are in love with her cousin! Which means," Merry said, "you are partners with Arwen, the daughter of Elrond! Which also means, you're in love with the princess!" his eyes opened widely in disbelief.

"Yes," Aragorn said wearily.

"Amazing!" Pippin exclaimed.

Suddenly, Azaelia swept in and said:

"Follow me, I've found a room."

**Hi guys! Thank you for taking your time to read my work :) It would be great if you could reveiw and tell me what you think :D THANK YOU**


	4. Aragorn and Azaelia

After they went to the other side of the inn, in about ten minutes, the hobbits were fast asleep and Azaelia and Aragorn started talking to each other in elvish.

_"Are you sure Frodo is safe? The Black Riders aren't that stupid, they will find him!" _Azaelia said anxiously.

_"I have faced these monsters many times, I know their strengths and weaknesses," _Aragorn said calmly.

Aragorn looked out of the window. Mist had covered her blanket over the town, and the moon shined bright through the clouds. The air had given a chill and the town, was as silent as death himself.

_"How is Arwen? Is she alright?" _Aragorn asked after a long pause.

_"Yes of course," Azaelia grinned, "I don't know how you fell for her,"_

_"I don't know how I fell for you," _Aragorn stated coldly.

Azaelia laughed:

_"That was a very long time ago! I don't see why you're acting all bothered; I was the one who broke your heart," _

_"You have a sharp tongue, I would watch out if I was you or it might get chopped off," _

_"More blood has been spilt with your sword than my tongue has cut others,"_

Aragorn turned red.

_"If that means I could help Frodo, I will do it a thousand times or more!" _Aragorn said hotly.

Suddenly, Sam murmured something in his sleep, rolled over and sighed. Azaelia looked at them adoringly.

"I would sacrifice my life for them, I would do anything to protect them," Azaelia whispered in English.

"I know, and so would I," Aragorn whispered back.

Azaelia started playing with her red locks, twisting them around her finger and then letting them tumble back down to her waist again.

_"Does Legolas know you're here?" _Aragorn smirked. Azaelia paused for a few seconds, hesitated then said,

_"Maybe, but why would you care?" _She said fiercely.

_"Because, as I understand it, you and Legolas are together," _

_"Yes and what does that matter? There is nothing wrong about me being with Legolas is there?"_

_"Does Frodo know?" _Aragorn said.

_"No," _Azaelia said,_ "but he doesn't need to know does he?"_

_"I guess not,"_

Meanwhile, at the gate, the grouchy man was sitting on his stool, shivering and grumbling to himself, when there was a knock at the door. He sat up, stretched and yawned, then opened the hatch to the door. But before he could scream, six horses with cloaked riders pushed the door of its hinges and it landed on the man with a sickening crunch. The riders did not flinch and rode on top of the door with the man squashed underneath.

Azaelia suddenly sat very straight.

_"What's the matter?" _Aragorn said cautiously.

_"They're here, the Black Riders, I can feel their presents, they have already killed a man."_

"We need to get the hobbits out of here!" Aragorn whispered loudly.

All of a sudden all four hobbits gasped and sat up really quickly.

"What's wrong?" Aragorn said.

"It felt really weird, like I've just been stabbed in my dream," Sam said panting, rubbing his chest.

"I had that dream as well!" Pippin whispered tiredly.

"And me," Merry said.

"And also me," Frodo said and soon enough, all the hobbits where checking their body for any stab marks anxiously, but found none.

"I know why you had that," Azaelia said, and her face went pale, "When you all went into this room, and Aragorn had a little nap," she raised her eyebrows at Aragorn who gave a guilty look back, "I went into the old room and put in an enchantment so anything that happens in that room, happens in their dream," she said, pointing at the hobbits.

"So, our beds just got stabbed?" whispered Merry, fearfully, "Which means, they thought we were in that room and tried to kill us! But why?"

Everyone looked at Frodo, who hesitated.

"The ring," Aragorn said, "They're after the ring. We need to get you out of here! Come with me!"

"No!" Azaelia said, "Its fine, they won't find us here,"

_"How do you know?" _Aragorn snapped in Elvish, _"Don't tell me you put another enchantment somewhere as well!" _

_"Maybe," _she said guiltily, _"but trust me, we're all safe!" _

_"What did you do?" _Aragorn said irritably.

"I made it so if they come in here and try stab one of them, it'll stab me instead and when I die, a bright light will escape and stun them so you and the hobbits have enough time to escape!" she babbled accidently in English.

"You stupid child!" Aragorn said angrily, "What were you thinking? Sacrificing your life for this!"

"Don't die Azaelia I need you," Frodo said, his eyes welling up.

"I won't, if you guys stay quiet and anyway, I can't reverse the charm! It'll stay like this for half a day at least!"

Aragorn swore and sat down on the window sill.

"Alright, go to sleep," Azaelia said softly to the hobbits.

"We can't sleep now!" Merry exclaimed.

But then something unexpected happened, something Frodo had never seen Azaelia do before, she sat on the chair next to the beds and started to sing:

_"Home is behind,_

_The world ahead_

_And there are many paths to tread_

_Through shadow_

_To the edge of night_

_Until the stars are all alight_

_Mist and shadow_

_Cloud and shade_

_All shall fade_

_All shall fade_

_You never know what lies ahead_

_The dangers one could face alone_

_But help will always come to hand_

_Before the night is out_

_The mountains sigh_

_And the trees whisper_

_About the rumours of the ring bearer_

_And a shimmer of hope stays alive_

_Knowing that Sauron can be shattered"_

Her voice was the most beautiful sound any of the hobbits heard in their entire life. It sent pleasant shivers down Frodo's spine, and she only had to repeat the song twice to make him fall into a deep slumber.

_"What kind of song is that?" _Aragorn whispered through the snores of Pippin.

_"I thought you would've heard it," _Azaelia smiled angelically, _"The first verse, as I understand it, is a famous hobbit song, created and sung by a Took. And the second verse has been created by the elves. We knew for a very long time that one day, the right individual will come by and destroy the ring. It was only a matter of time,"_

She looked at Frodo who was sound asleep.

_"He is like a brother to me,"_ she said. Then she very quickly leant forwards closer to Aragorn and said, _"I feel older, not just on the outside, but in the inside as well. I don't feel as happy anymore. It's as if, my wild heart has finally been tamed, and my cheerful spirit is no longer there. I've matured, a lot recently."_

_"How is that a bad thing?"_ Aragorn said, listening closely.

_"There's no excitement and fun when you're mature. Everything seems so serious, everything seems so tedious!"_

_"Sometimes that kind of thing can save your life, it'll be alright, I promise,"_ he gave her a grin, and she smiled slightly back.

_"Let's get some sleep, we're are going to get up bright and early tomorrow, we might as well travel with energy." _Aragorn said.

Azaelia jumped off the chair and grabbed an old, musty blanket from the floor.

"See you tomorrow," she said.

Then she lay down on some hay which she stole from the barn, put the blanket on top of her, and fell asleep.

_"Don't you ever sleep for more than one hour?" _Azaelia whispered hazily.

_"I try not to," _Aragorn smiled, _"I try not to..."_

At around five'o clock the next morning, Azaelia and Aragorn had everything packed for the journey. The hobbits however, were fast asleep.

"Right," Azaelia said, "You wake up Sam and Merry, while I will wake up Frodo and Pippin,"

Aragorn nodded, and made his way to the other side of the beds.

"Frodo," Azaelia whispered softly, stroking his hair, "Frodo, wake up! It's time to go! We've got a big day ahead of us, lots of walking!"

Frodo opened his big blue eyes and said:

"But what about Gandalf? Is he here?"

"I'm afraid not, Aragorn has been up all night, and no sign of a wizard,"

"Okay," he said sadly, sitting up.

Then she made her way towards Pippin, who was snoring very loudly.

"Pippin wake up! Goodness gracious, I never knew such a little hobbit could make so much noise!"

"W-what?" Pippin snorted.

Azaelia giggled.

"Come on, it's time to go!"

"Go where? What's happening? Where am I?" Pippin babbled loudly.

"Mordor, nothing right this moment unless you get up, the Prancing Pony," Azaelia babble back.

Pippin frowned and said,

"What's for breakfast?"

"That's exactly what Merry said when I woke him up!" Aragorn said wearily.

"Here," Azaelia said, and she threw half a loaf of bread at each of them and they caught it in surprise. But Pippin and Merry looked disappointed.

"Where's the bacon?" Pippin said.

"Yeah," Merry said, nodding his head in agreement, "and the cheese, crackers, ham and mutton?"

"We don't have any of them," Aragorn said, gritting his teeth, "You're lucky to have anything at all! So eat up!"

After a few grumpy mumbles, they finally decided to eat it up.

**WRITERS NOTE:** **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! IT WOULD MEAN SO MUCH TO ME IF YOU TOLD ME WHAT YOU THINK :) THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR TIME TO READ MY STORY :)**


	5. Dinner is served

They started to make their way through the countryside, and had been tracking through enormous hills and had travelled through enormous plains. And it had turned out Strider had a horse (named Bill), and so they had brought him with them as well.

"Where are we going?" Pippin said after about half an hour of walking.

"Rivendell," Aragorn said, and Azaelia smiled.

"That's where you live!" Merry said, pointing at Azaelia.

"Yes Merry," she replied, "That is where I live and I am very excited to show you."

"I've heard Rivendell is very beautiful," Frodo said, "Uncle Bilbo's been there!"

"I know," Azaelia said, as she turned around to look at Frodo, "My Uncle Elrond told me!"

"I've always wanted to see Rivendell and all the elves! This is a dream come true!" Sam exclaimed.

"Well good for you!" Azaelia smiled.

"I'm glad you have lots of energy, since it will take around six days to get there!" Aragorn said.

"What?!" Pippin said, with awe.

"He said six days, so you better hurry up!" Azaelia said.

But not after long, the Hobbits stopped and started making themselves comfortable on the grass.

"What are you doing?" Aragorn said, "We rest at nightfall,"

"But we want breakfast!" Pippin said.

"You've already had breakfast." Aragorn said, turning to look at them.

"Yes, but what about second breakfast?" Pippin said.

Aragorn looked at him with disgust and walked on forwards.

"I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip," Merry said sadly.

"What about elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper? He knows about them doesn't he?" Pippin said with worry.

"I wouldn't count on it," Pippin said grumpily. But as he turned around, Azaelia said,

"Catch!"

And an apple flew through the air, and Merry caught it. Pippin looked at him, but as he did that another apple flew through the air and hit Pippin on the head.

"Ouch!" Pippin yelled. But he shrugged and carried on walking.

For hours and hours they walked, until Aragorn and Azaelia finally stopped. About 100 metres off was a ruin on top of a hill.

"We'll rest here tonight," Aragorn said, pointing at the ruin, "This was an old watch tower of Amon Sûl."

When they finally got to the top, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry all collapsed on the stony floor, panting.

"Here you go," Aragorn said, and chucked them swords which landed on their laps. They sat up to look at them, analysing them with amazement and excitement. "Keep them safe," Aragorn said sternly.

"Stay here," Azaelia said, "Me and Aragorn are going to go and have a look around, do not move, do you understand me?"

"Yes Azaelia," Frodo said, "But please do not be long."

"I'll try not to," Azaelia smiled, and they both ran down the hill, out of sight.

Frodo lay down on a blanket, analyzing what had just happened that day. Although, before he got to him knocking on the door of Bree, he fell asleep.

Frodo's ear twitched, there was a crackling noise in his ear and he heard murmuring voices.

"Do you think the tomatoes are ready?" said one voice.

"Yes, I think so," said another.

Frodo sat up, realising he recognised the voices.

"What are you doing?!" Frodo shouted at Pippin, Merry and Sam, who were cooking on a fire.

"Tomatoes, sausages and nice crispy bacon," Merry said, pointing at the food which was sizzling at the pan.

"Put it out!" Frodo said in a panicky voice and he leapt up, and started stamping on the fire. He then ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down, there was nothing, he sighed with relief.

Then suddenly a screech was heard down below, it was the Ringwraiths.

"Let's go!" Frodo shouted and they grabbed their swords then ran up some really old steps onto the roof.

The stood back to back, so one was facing each corner.

A figure came up, faceless, cloaked, un-named, so did four others, surrounding the hobbits, their swords drawn.

Sam yelled and ran towards one of them, but it just raised its sword and crashed it with Sam's, making him fly.

Pippin and Merry stood side by side in front of Frodo, creating a barrier, but the cloaked figure just brushed them aside.

Frodo backed away, but tripped on a rock and fell on his back. The Ringwraiths were getting closer and closer, where was Azaelia and Strider? Frodo put the ring on in a panic and he disappeared.

He looked up and saw the Ringwraiths, but they didn't have black cloaks on nor were they faceless. They were bright white, and each of them had a crown on their heads, like they were kings. The ring pulled upwards, towards the leader of the Ringwraiths, whose hand was out stretched out, ready to grab the ring. Frodo used up all his strength and pulled backwards, the Ringwraith look at him with loathing and stabbed him just above his chest. The pain was unimaginable; the Ringwraith seemed to be smiling as he held it there, watching Frodo screaming in agony, when suddenly, two figures jumped in between them and started attacking them with fire.

Azaelia lit an arrow and kept on firing at the cloaked figures, as they screamed, setting alight. Frodo pulled the ring off and appeared screaming.

"Frodo!" Sam yelled, and he ran and sat down next to him.

Aragorn spun around with a stick which was alight and set fire to two Ringwraiths, which ran and fell of the hill.

Aragorn looked at Azaelia.

"Well that was close!" he said, huffing.

"Duck!" Azaelia cried and she threw an alight stick at one of the Black Riders behind him which gave on last high pitched scream and fell down to join the others.

When realising there were no more Ringwraiths, they ran towards Frodo who was groaning in pain.

Aragorn picked up the sword that stabbed him and said,

"He was stabbed by an immortal blade," and it sizzled up into dust, "this is beyond my speciality, he needs Elvish medicine, from Elrond."

He heaved Frodo up and put him over his shoulder.

"Come on, we don't have much time!" Azaelia cried to the Hobbits, who were so shocked that they were just sitting there.


End file.
